The present disclosure relates to a technology for apparatus, chip, and method for introduction of a cell-containing sample fluid taken from a patient into a flow channel through which a cell-carrying fluid flows.
Flow cytometry is one method of assay employed in the field of life science and medical research as well as in the field of medical treatment including clinical laboratory test. The analyte of flow cytometry is a fluid containing discrete cells. The sample fluid is caused to flow through a flow channel after dilution. The flow channel is equipped with a section for detecting signals from cells. Analysis of such signals permits identification of cell species contained in the sample fluid and counting of the number of cells.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2010-181399 (Paragraphs [0041] to [0048], [0065] to [0071], and FIGS. 3 and 4) as shown below discloses an apparatus for dielectric cytometry that is designed to analyze cells based on the complex dielectric constant of cells. This apparatus includes a water flow unit, a measurement unit, a cell separation unit, and a control unit.
The water flow unit ejects the cell-containing fluid into the flow channel. The measurement unit acquires the complex dielectric constant of cells flowing through the flow channel and then calculates the dielectric parameter from the complex dielectric constant. The dielectric parameter identifies cell species contained in the fluid and counts the number of cells based on the fact that the dielectric parameter differs from one cell species to another. The cell separation unit separates the fluid flowing out of the measurement unit into two portions—one containing target cells and one to be discarded. The control unit establishes various set values for the water flow unit, measurement unit, and cell separation unit based on the information entered through the input interface.
The measurement unit includes the flow channel device having a flow channel for inflow, a flow channel for outflow, and a constricted part formed between the two flow channels. The two flow channels have their respective electrodes. After entry into the flow channel for inflow through the flow inlet, the cells pass one by one through the constricted part and then flow through the flow channel for outflow toward the flow outlet. The measurement unit measures current flowing across a pair of electrodes, calculates, based on the result of measurement, the complex dielectric constant for individual cells passing through the constricted part, and finally calculates the dielectric parameter from the resulting complex dielectric constant.